The middle is the right way in the world. After the Xuzhou army entered Qingzhou in two ways, Yuan Xi, who was guarding Qingzhou, did not divide his troops to meet the attack, but concentrated the main force to meet the main force of the Xuzhou army, Zang Ba team, and took the initiative to attack with Zang Ba's army in Changguo County, Qi County, and adopted defensive tactics against Xuzhou's partial division Sun Guan's team, so that Qingzhou did not drive Wang Xiu and Beihai Xiang Zhen Yan and others to lead the army to guard Beihai, requiring that every city must fight with the Xuzhou army, and every city must be defended. Delay the progress of Sun Guan's team as much as possible.

Yuan Xi, who is known as a cowardly man, made Deputy Director Tao look at him a little impressed, and it also proved that Yuan Xi was more militarily capable than his grumpy eldest brother Yuan Tan and the third brother of the embroidered pillow Yuan Shang, because Yuan Xi's strategy was indeed very symptomatic. also made Deputy Director Tao's dream of inducing Yuan Xi to divide his troops completely frustrated.

As a result, the Xuzhou army naturally had no hope of a quick victory, and Sun Guan's partial division was dragged to the Beihai by Wang Xiu's team, which was defending the danger, and fell into the quagmire of attacking the fortification, unable to quickly meet with the main force. Zang Ba's main force was blocked by Yuan Xi in Changguo, although he had the upper hand in several battles, he could not win quickly, Yuan Xi suffered several losses and no longer fought in the field, but only relied on the city to hold on, while blocking the northward footsteps of Zang Ba's army, while asking for help from the rear of Jizhou.

The battle situation in Qingzhou was transmitted back to Xuzhou, Chen Deng and Chen Ying both persuaded Deputy Director Tao to increase troops in Qingzhou, and attack Yuan Xi before the third princess of Yuan reinforces Qingzhou, but Deputy Director Tao categorically refused, and said with a smile: "There is no need for that, our army is in the upper hand, and at this time, increasing troops in Qingzhou is not only unnecessary, but also makes Xuan Gao feel that I look down on him and hurt his self-esteem." ”

"But what if Yuan Shao personally leads the army to reinforce Qingzhou?" Chen Deng was a little worried, and reminded: "Although Yuan Shao was defeated in Guandu, nearly 100,000 of the 300,000 soldiers and horses escaped the Yellow River and returned to his command, and the army is still alive, plus there are still a large number of soldiers and horses in the four states of Qingyou and Hebei, and the overall strength is still far above my Xuzhou. ”

"If such a situation does occur, it is not too late for us to discuss countermeasures." Deputy Director Tao said with a smile: "In short, we must not increase troops in Qingzhou now, the big cake in the hands of Lord Yue, if this bite is too big, we will not have the opportunity to turn around and bite the big cake in the hands of the thief." ”

"What do you mean?" Chen Deng was a little confused.

"Yuanlong, don't worry, the lord has his own measure." Jia Lao Poison next to him smiled and said: "In short, it is really not appropriate to increase troops in Qingzhou too much at this time, otherwise, our army will not only lose room for maneuver, but also may attract Yuan Shao's troops from the four states, and only send Zang Ba to lead the army to attack Qingzhou, and the main force will not move, so that our army can advance and attack, and retreat can be defended." ”

Seeing that Deputy Director Tao and Jia Lao Poison were confident, Chen Deng, who was only good at the tactical level, did not continue to insist, so he tossed with Deputy Director Tao himself. And a few days later, there was also news from Nanyang, saying that Boss Cao had defeated Uncle Liu Huang who was robbing while the fire was taking advantage of the fire, and Uncle Liu Huang was beaten with an old fist, and fled back to Xinye with the remnants of less than a thousand soldiers.

After hearing the news, Deputy Director Tao laughed loudly, and refused to increase troops in Qingzhou, and made up his mind to let Zang Ba be alone in the north to share the military pressure for himself, and at the same time closely monitor the movements of the northern line of Yanzhou, and patiently wait for the situation to change. Also taking advantage of this time, Deputy Director Tao has expanded to more than 160,000 Xuzhou army made some adjustments, and the biggest adjustment is the cavalry team, the number of cavalry has exceeded 9,000 divided into two teams, a team of more than 4,000 people handed over to Xu Huang to command, the younger brother of the Koji Yi clan to the deputy of the Koji Burma, and the other team of 5,000 cavalry was handed over to the new general Zhao Yun to command, Tian Kai's eldest son Tian Xiang deputy, so that Xu Huang and Zhao Yun and others must carefully train the cavalry for great use.

Of course, there are also things that worry Deputy Director Tao, that is, since Boss Cao returned to the northern line of Yanzhou, he has not sent an envoy to contact Deputy Director Tao once, and on the side of Yuan Sangong, Zang Ba was ordered to drive away Chen Zhen, the envoy of Yuan Shaojun, and the gift was returned intact, and the Great Yuan Sangong did not send an envoy to contact the Xuzhou army again, and Cao Boss was as silent as terrifyingly, so that Deputy Director Tao, who was ready to meet the envoy of Yuezhang for the third time, was afraid, for fear of completely angering the bad-tempered old man. ruined his follow-up wishful thinking. Therefore, the reorganization of the army has just been backward for a while, and Deputy Director Tao also took the time to summon Jia Lao Poison alone, expressed his worries to Jia Lao Poison, and asked Jia Lao Poison to analyze the situation for himself.

"The lord doesn't have to worry, there will never be a situation where our army alone will confront Yuan Shao's main force." Jia Lao Poison comforted Deputy Director Tao and said: "After the Guandu War, Yuan Cao has become a mortal enemy, and it is impossible to rebuild the old good, Yuan Cao's two families contain each other and prevent each other from sneak attacks, Yuan Shao will never dare to personally mention the troops of the four states to save Qingzhou, and our army will never have the situation of Yuan Shao's troops alone!" ”

"I think so too." Deputy Director Tao nodded, and then asked, "Then why are Cao Thief and Master Yuezhang unwilling to send envoys to contact and negotiate with our army?" Our army not only threatens the southern front of the Cao thief, but also threatens Yuan Shao's flank, and at the same time, the grain in Xuzhou is also necessary for the Cao thief. ”

"If Xu is not bad, there are two reasons for Cao Ying's move." Jia Lao poison analyzed to Deputy Director Tao: "First, the lord you are too shrewd, and you never suffer a loss in doing things, Cao Ying knows that whether you ask the lord for food or an alliance, you will inevitably be coerced by the lord and force him to send troops to attack Jizhou, and although Cao Ying Guandu won a big victory, his strength is still not enough to capture Jizhou, so Cao Thief Suo surname will not come to beg our army, and solve internal problems by self-reliance, so that you can't coerce him. ”

"Second, Cao Ying is probably deliberately keeping a distance from our army." Jia Lao Poison said with a smile: "Although it is impossible for Cao Ying and Yuan Shao to reconcile, our army has already invaded Qingzhou, and there is also the possibility of a decisive battle with Yuan Shao's main force in Qingzhou, so Cao Ying deliberately kept a distance from our army, in order to tell Yuan Shao that he Cao Ying and our army did not join forces to form an alliance, induce Yuan Shao to divide a large number of troops in Qingzhou, and then lure Yuan Shao's main force east into Qingzhou, so that our army and Yuan Shao cannibalism weaken each other, and let him reap the benefits of the fisherman!" ”

"Sure enough!" Deputy Director Tao snorted and said, "Even I almost didn't see it, this thief really deserves his reputation." ”

"As for Yuan Shao's side, there are also two reasons." Jia Lao Poison said lightly: "First, the indecisive Yuan Shao must be hesitating, and he is not sure whether to start a war with our army and Cao's army at the same time, or to fight with our army to destroy Cao?" Second, of course, it is a matter of face, no matter what, Yuan Shao is also the father-in-law of the lord, and he is a big man from the family of the fourth and third princes, and it is undoubtedly a difficult thing to ask the lord for mercy and alliance. ”

"Listening to the public is better than reading a book for ten years." Deputy Director Tao, who had gradually lost the advantage of a historical prophet, sighed, and asked thoughtfully: "In this case, can I try to take the initiative to contact Lord Yuezhang and give Lord Yuezhang a step down?" Pave the way for our army to weaken the Cao thief next? ”

"Of course you can, but you can't try it now." Jia Lao Poison nodded first and shook his head, explaining: "General Zang Ba is confronting Yuan Xi in Changguo, although he has the upper hand, he has not won, and the main force of Yuan Shao's army has not yet moved, and the rear force has not yet been released, at this time trying to contact Yuan Shao is tantamount to taking the initiative to show weakness, which will be extremely unfavorable to the follow-up actions of our army, so if our army wants to take the initiative to contact Yuan Shao, we must wait for General Zang Ba to fight a decisive victory in Qingzhou!" Gain the upper hand on the battlefield first, and then try to engage, so that you can take the initiative in the negotiations! ”

Deputy Director Tao nodded slowly, and Jia Lao Poison suggested again: "Lord, our army and Yuan Xi have been in Changguo for nearly a month, it's time to give General Zang Ba a boost, the lord may wish to send a letter to General Zang Ba, asking General Zang Ba if he needs reinforcements?" With Mr. Ziyang here, the lord must not worry about General Zang Ba's danger. Deputy Director Tao laughed, and immediately asked Jia Lao Poison to make a book for Zang Ba for himself, and acted aggressively.

………… As expected by Deputy Director Tao and Jia Lao Poison, when Deputy Director Tao asked if he needed reinforcements, the letter was sent to Zang Bajun, Zang Ba really got angry, and while replying to resolutely refuse reinforcements, he ordered the army to attack the city of Changguo with all his might, but Yuan Xi, who knew that he was invincible, could not defend the city until he could not come out, and Zang Ba's army still couldn't attack it repeatedly. Fortunately, at this time, Liu Ye, the think tank arranged by Deputy Director Tao for Zang Ba, finally figured out a strategy to break the city, and sent a clever soldier to carry a fake book into the city, pretending to be a messenger of Yuan Shao's reinforcements, pretending that Wen Chou had led 30,000 rescuers to arrive at Dongpingling, and asked Yuan Xi to send troops to respond immediately after seeing the fire in the west, and attack the Xuzhou army.

Two days later, in the night, Zang Ba and Liu Ye first set up an ambush outside the city, sent a small army to set fire to the west to send a signal, and deliberately let the soldiers scream and run, as an attack elephant, Yuan Xi, who had been prepared, also immediately led the army out of the city in person, all the way to the camp of Zang Ba's army, and suddenly fell into the net of the Xuzhou army, Zang Ba ambushed the soldiers on all sides, Chen Zhi led an army to attack Changguo, and the unprepared Yuan Xi was defeated, and finally broke out of the siege when Changguo was also broken by Chen Zhi, Yuan Xi had no choice but to flee to Linzi, Unexpectedly, Hou Cheng, who had been prepared, had already led his army to block the road to Linzi, and Yuan Xi could only lead his army to flee to Linji.

After breaking Changyang, Zang Ba's army rushed north to attack Linzi, and Liu Ye, who lacked virtue and was not under the poison of Deputy Director Tao and Jia Lao, offered a poison plan again, and bought hundreds of captives of Yuan Xi's team, so that they could call the door under Linzi City at night, and Tian Chou, Yuan Xi's deputy who guarded Linzi, saw that it was his own defeated army, and he urgently needed to replenish his troops to defend the city, so he opened the city gate to let these defeated soldiers enter the city, who knew that these defeated soldiers immediately killed the soldiers and set fire to the city as soon as they entered the city, and the Xuzhou army in ambush swarmed into the city and successfully entered the city of Linzi. Although Tian Chou, who found the plan, led the army to fight to the death, the army was discouraged and the elite had already been exhausted, and after a hard battle, he was finally forced to abandon Linzi City, and Linzi, the Qingzhou Prefecture, finally fell into the hands of the Xuzhou army.

Affected by the terrain and roads of this era, Linzi, Wang Xiu's team in Beihai suddenly became a lonely army, and Qingzhou, which was long and narrow, was also cut into two by the Xuzhou army, Zang Bazhi was complacent, in addition to urging the old brother Sun Guan to enter the army as soon as possible and join his own division, naturally he had to send a fast horse back to Xuzhou to report to Deputy Director Tao, Deputy Director Tao breathed a sigh of relief, only thought about it a little, and immediately returned to his back hall, found his wife Yuan Fang, who was taking care of his children, and asked Yuan Fang to write a letter to his third brother-in-law Yuan Shang, Try to re-establish contact with the Great Yuan Sangong and avoid writing about the all-out war of the Great Yuan Sangong.

In the face of her husband's request, Yuan Fang, a typical good wife and mother, naturally agreed, and when asked about the content of the letter, Deputy Director Tao replied: "First of all, of course, I want to ask Hou Yuezhang and his mother-in-law about their well-being, and then I want to persuade your third brother to put state affairs first, please ask your third brother to try to reconcile the contradictions between me and my father-in-law, and that's all, but remember, you must have your reputation, and the second is to use state affairs as an excuse, not to mention family affection." ”

"Why?" Yuan Fang asked a little strangely.

Deputy Director Tao was a little embarrassed, and didn't know how to explain to his honest wife, but Guo Huan, Yuan Fang's personal maid next to him, pursed his lips and smiled: "Madam, the lord wants the lady's brother to know that this letter is actually written by the lord and the lady, not by the lady herself, only in this way will the lady's brother present this letter to the lady's father." ”

"Huh?" Deputy Director Tao went to see Guo Huan with some surprise, only to find that this little girl was not only beautiful, but also clever.

"I see." Yuan Fang was accustomed to Guo Huan's delicate thoughts, and after a while, Yuan Fang couldn't help but glance at Deputy Director Tao, and said angrily: "Obviously I want my father to see your letter, and you have to beat around the bush like this, aren't you too troublesome?" ”

"I also need some face for my husband." Deputy Director Tao said with a wry smile: "Please also ask your wife to write this letter for her husband." ”

"It's okay to help you write, but I can't write these words that focus on state affairs?" Yuan Fang replied with some embarrassment.

"Madam, if you don't dislike it, the slave can ghostwrite for you."

Deputy Director Tao was about to say that when Chen Ying ghostwrote this paragraph, Guo Huan suddenly raised her moving face again, and whispered a little timidly: "When the slave's father was alive, he once taught the slave and the maid calligraphy and writing, and after the slave's father was gone, the slave's brother has also been teaching the slave and the maid poetry, which can be regarded as a rough writing. ”

"Ah Huan, do you still have this ability?" Yuan Fang was a little happy and said, "Then you give it a try, if you can, my documents will be handed over to you in the future." ”

Cautiously peeked at Deputy Director Tao, seeing that Deputy Director Tao was just obsessed with seeing that he had no objection, Guo Huan was shy and had some courage, and after singing softly, he sat down on the desk next to him and picked up the pen to make a book, and wrote the letter according to Deputy Director Tao's request in a moment. When it was handed over to Deputy Director Tao and his wife for inspection, Deputy Director Tao and Yuan Fang were inevitably a little surprised, it turned out that Guo Huan's little girl's writing was still above Deputy Director Tao and Yuan Fang, not only the handwriting was neat and beautiful, the words were gorgeous, but also grasped very properly, and when greeting Yuan Sangong's father in Yuan Fang's tone, he was steady and respectful, and persuaded his brother to be reasonable and restrained when he was a sister to focus on state affairs, and the use of the dictionary was appropriate, so that people could know at a glance that it was not from Yuan Fang's mouth, and he was facing Deputy Director Tao's tricky appetite.

"Ah Huan, I didn't expect you to be such a master of writing, it seems that my documents can be handed over to you in the future." Yuan Fang praised happily, and hurriedly asked Deputy Director Tao, "Husband, is it okay for Ah Huan to write?" If I can, I'll sign it. ”

"Yes, I'm satisfied." Deputy Director Tao nodded, and then took the opportunity to ask his wife: "Madam, you also know that I am not the best at writing and writing, since Ah Huan's writing is so beautiful, why don't you lend her to me?" I have too many official documents, and Yuan Fang can't be busy alone, Ah Huan can come to my study to do a notebook and share some pressure for Yuan Fang. ”

"It's finally here!" Guo Huan's heart jumped, and when she quietly went to peek at Deputy Director Tao, she saw that Deputy Director Tao was also peeking at herself, Guo Huan's face suddenly turned red, and she quickly lowered her face, her heart beating hard.

"No way!" Yuan Fang rarely refused her husband once, and glared at Deputy Director Tao, and snorted: "Don't think I don't know what the hell you have to do, I want to find a record office, there are literati and ink scholars in Xuzhou City!" If you can't hold it back, you can go to Ling'er and them, don't hurt Ah Huan! She's pathetic enough. ”

Guo Huan was a little disappointed, but she didn't dare to say that she was willing to go, and Deputy Director Tao said with a wry smile: "Madam, why do you always think badly about being a husband?" Is a husband like that? ”

"Who are you? I don't know yet? Anyway, Ah Huan, I will never give it to you! ”

Yuan Fang glanced at Deputy Director Tao again, and then took the letter written by Guo Huan to the side to sign, Deputy Director Tao had no choice but to say to Guo Huan: "Ah Huan, I heard that you are from an official eunuch family, who is your father?" What was the official position? ”

"Back to the lord, the slave's father's surname is Guo Mingyong, and he once served as the Taishou of Nanjun." Guo Huan replied truthfully, plucked up the courage to raise her head, and said to Deputy Director Tao with a red face: "Lord, when the slave maid was young, my father once asked a different man to meet the slave and maid, and the strange man said that the slave and maid had the image of nobility, so my father gave the slave and the maid the word queen. ”

"Queen?" Deputy Director Tao was a little surprised, and said with a smile: "It seems that Ling Zun hopes that Ah Huan will marry the emperor in the future?" ”

Although Deputy Director Tao didn't say it right, and Guo Huan herself deliberately didn't explain it clearly, Guo Huan still hung her head shyly, acquiesced to Deputy Director Tao's judgment, and quietly threw a moving eye to Deputy Director Tao. ”

(To be continued)